Improvement in trunks



A. J. WALRATH.

Trunksvl` Patented Mr. 18.'.1879.

NJTE PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. DA CV 'miran Srarns FF'ICE.

IMPROVEMENT 'IN TRU'NEKS.

Specification 'forming part of Letters Patent No. 213.308, datedv March18, 1879 application tiled January 7, 1879. A

To all 'whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. WALRATH, of Augusta, Eau Claire county,`State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new Vand useful Improvementsin Trunks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a Vpart of my specih'cation thereof, inwhich- Figure l is a perspective View of my improved trunk thrown openfor access to its contents. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section inthe line g/ g/ of Fig. 3, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section in the linea: a: of Fig. 2.

The object of my invention is the production of a trunk for the use oftravelers and others which shall possess the advantages of an ordinarytrunk and bureau in combination, and by which greater convenience andsecurity is afforded to travelers in the transportation ofwearing-apparel from place to place.

ln the drawings, A indicates the body portion, and A the lid or topcover, of my improved bureau or trunk.

The body portion A is constructed with outer end walls, a a, and a rearwall, b, as

usual in ordinary trunks, and with a divided front wall, formingswinging doors c c1, hinged to the end walls, as at d6 df".

B indicates a removable tray, havinga central uncovered apartment, f. anend apartment, f1, on one side of the open apartment f, and two smallerapartments, j"2 f2, on the opposite side of the central apartment, eachof which apartments f1 f2 f2 is kept closed, when desired, with a hingedlid. The apartments fzfZ are particularly designed as a receptacle forbonnets or hats, while other particles of wearing-apparel may occupyreceptacles f and f1.

The tray B, as represented in Fig. l, is seated in rabbets cutlongitudinally along the inside of the walls a a and b of the bodyportion A, and in a frame-piece, g, which latter is of proper thicknessto have a lock, gl, applied thereto, as shown, in order to lock thebureautrunk when the doors are closed and the lid A shut down, assignied by Fig. 2.

Beneath the tray B is a till, B', in the body portion A of the trunk,which till is closed when the tray is in position, as shown in Fig.

1, but to which till access can be had when the trayB is removed from ontop of said body portion.

The body portion A of my bureau-trunk is provided with two horizontalpartitions, 'i and fil, which extend across the entire interior lengthand width of the trunk, the ends of which partitions are let into andsecured in a mortise, al, in the ends t a, as signified in Fig. 1, andbetween these partitions a central cross-partition, i2, is securedtransversely ot' the body A. By inserting these partitions?) il i2, asshown, the body of the trunk is firmly strengthened against the shocksincident to careless handling in traveling, and at the same time affordsproper receptacles for the insertion of drawers DDDZ, the latter one ofwhich, D2, may be of the width and depth andlengt-h of an ordinary-sizedbureau-drawer, and yet not require the body portion A to be of greaterdimensions than the body portion of an ordinary-sized Saratoga trunk. Bythis construction facilities are afforded for carrying garments in thedrawers D D1 D2 without unduly folding them, while at the same time theyare relieved from the superincumbent weight of the contents of the bodyof a trunk as ordinarily constructed, and also facilities for taking outa given garment from the body portipn A without overhauling the wholecontents of such body portion, as frequently is the case in the use ofan ordinary trunk, which permits access thereto only at its top.'

The doors c c are rabbeted, as at 1,130 correspond with rabbets d1 onthe body portion A, so that when the doors are closed and the cover orlid A' is shut down, as in Fig. 2, the rabbeted portions d? of said lidwill overlap the rabbeted portions d d1, and thus assist in holding thedoors securely closed when the bureau-trunk is locked.

The doors c c are also rabbeted vertically, as at d3 and d4, so thatwhen the doors are closed the rabbeted portion d4 will overlap cl3, andleave the outer surface of the doors iiush with each other; and in orderto cover the joint thus formed, a strip, as at d5, is securely attachedto the door c, which strip may be of any suitable material, metal beingpreferred.

To keep the doors c c closed when the lid Al is thrown back, as in Fig.1, and when I access is only desired to the tray B and till B', Iprovide the door c with a bolt, 7s, the lower end of which ent-ers asocket, on, in the bottom O of the trunk, when the doors are closedandthe bolt thrust down. This bolt may either pass vertically throughthe door c er be confined thereto by staples, as signied in said gure.

When the bureau-trunk is open, as represented in Fig. l, it may becompletely closed as follows: First, close the door c', and thereuponthe door c, and then shove the bolt 7c into socket m. Now close the lidA', so that the rabbeted portions d of the doors and d' of the bodyportion A shall be overlapped by the rabbeted ends and front of the lidA'. This done, insert the key through aperture 1 of the doors intothclocl; g1, through its key-hole g2, and lock in the usual manner.

It will be seen that my improved or bureau trunk aii'ords all theadvantages of a trunk for transporting wea-rin g-apparel, with theadditional advantage of the use of bureaudrawers for containing garmentswhich would be injured by folding and by superincumbent weight; thataccess is afforded to garments in the bottom portions of the body A bymeans,

of the doors c c', without overhauling a great mass of superincumbentclothing or disturb'- ing the contents of the trayB and till B', andthat although the doors c c' may be closed and the doors bolted, stillaccess can be had to the tray B and till B' of the body portion of thetrunk proper simply by raisin g the lid A' 5 and, finally, that, byreason of the partitions i l i2, the body of the bureau-trunk is greatlystrengthened and protected against injury from violent usage.

That I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A trunk having its lid A' rabbeted, as at d2, so as to close down uponcorresponding rabbets on the top edges of the folding doors e c', aremovable tra-y, B, a Xed till, B',which is covered by the tray when inplace, strengthening-partitions Ml, let into the wall of the trunk, andbetween which partitions the drawers D Dl slide, partition i2, anddrawers D Dl D2, all arranged substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

ANDREW J. WALRATH. In presence oil- IRA B. BRADFORD,

L. C. HUMPHREY.

